Ambassador Eric Johnston President Eisenhower’s personal representative to the Near East announced new concessions to the Arab states today in an attempt to win their agreement to the American plan for hydroelectric development of the Jordan River Valley. The details of Ambassador Johnstons offer made in Lebanon were received here in a dispatch from Beirut.
In a statement designed to meet some of the Arab objections to the plan, Mr, Johnston said that more water than originally provided would be stored in the Yarmuk basin located in Jordan and Syria At the same time he said that a decision on the storage of water in Lake Tiberias within Israel would be deferred pending further study by a neutral body.
The Arab leaders. Ambassador Johnston said have received my assurance that the plan is intended to produce no change whatever in the political situation in the area and that it represents only the sincere purpose on the part of the United States to help the governments and peoples of the Near East to achieve a generally higher level of economic well-being “Mr. Johnston who has already talked with Jordanian and Lebanese leaders plans to proceed to Syria later this week and then go on to Cairo before calling at Jerusalem.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
